The initial Chinese attack at Kapyong engaged the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment until the Australians retreated from their positions on Hill 504. The Chinese then struck at the Canadian front. Wave after wave of massed Chinese troops kept up the attack throughout the night of 23 April. The Chinese had managed to infiltrate the brigade position by the morning of the 23rd. This resulted in Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry being completely surrounded. It had to be resupplied by air drops during this desperate time. By the evening of April 23 the Commonwealth 27th and 29th Brigades were facing the Chinese 118th Division. Throughout April 24 the battle was unrelenting. It devolved, on both fronts, into hand-to-hand combat with bayonet charges. This was some of the bloodiest and most ferocious hand-to-hand fighting of the Korean War. The Australians were ordered to make an orderly fall back to new defensive positions late in the day of April 24. The Canadians defended their position until eventually the Chinese assault collapsed. By the afternoon of 25 April the road through to the Canadians had been cleared of Chinese at which time the 2nd Battalion, PPCLI was relieved by units of the United States Army. The actions by the Australian and Canadian forces prevented a massive breakthrough that would certainly have resulted in the fall of Seoul.
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